VMware (VMW) CEO Paul Maritz has been removed in favor of EMC storage COO Pat Gelsinger, sources tell CRN. The site adds it's unclear if Maritz will get another job at EMC, which owns 80% of VMware - Maritz and Gelsinger were rumored to be potential successors to EMC CEO Joe Tucci, who has cancelled plans to retire. Only hours earlier, it was reported VMware/EMC plan to spin off their cloud services and analytics software ops. Maritz's predecessor, Diane Greene, was kicked out by EMC in '08.